After spending winter in a fridge, Minsk bats return to the wild In a rescue centre in ex-Soviet Belarus, a group of bats wake up and are released into the wild after spending the winter months hibernating inside a fridge. Volunteers at the centre tuck the bats up inside cloth bags in an ordinary domestic fridge -- which gives them just the right amount of moisture and cold for a good winter's sleep. The Kozhanopolis centre in the capital Minsk takes in bats that are found by members of the public after struggling to find a safe place to hibernate.